Tag Archives: delaware county

north wayne is a beautiful and historic area.

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I have been in love with North Wayne, PA for years. It’s an amazing and historic area, and ironically was a quasi planned development in the late19th century. The North Wayne Historic District is actually a national historic district. Most houses were built between1881 and 1925, and include notable examples of Shingle Style, Queen Anne and Colonial Revival architecture. Among the famous area architects who contributed to this were the Quaker Price brothers (William and Frank, who also did a lot of Rose Tree in Media.)

Allow me to share something I wrote many years ago in 2011:

https://patch.com/pennsylvania/radnor/north-wayne-worth-preservingbetter

Allow me to quote myself but click on the above link for photos I took years ago as well:

I first became a fan of North Wayne when I was a kid. The fanciful Victorian architecture in particular had me at hello, just like Cape May, NJ.

North Wayne has grand Victorian homes with sweeping porches and smaller homes of a more fanciful bungalow style. Many of these homes have been lovingly restored. You see Queen Anne, Second Empire, Tudor, shingle style, stick style, craftsman, and colonial revival homes dot the streets neatly laid out on a grid pattern.

Like many other towns on the Main Line, Wayne popped as the Pennsylvania Railroad developed and connected Philadelphia to points west–Harrisburg and Pittsburgh. The Main Line itself received its now famous name as a result of this train line.

Wayne as we see it today can be ironically described as an early planned development. Streets were orderly and on a grid. Houses were large, but convenient to downtown Philadelphia. They embraced the Victorian sensibilities and importance of hearth and home, yet were so modern. Steam heat, the train, public water and sewer, electricity, indoor plumbing, paved roads. There were even swimming pools–like the famous Wayne Natatorium.

The Wayne Natatorium, which was recognized in the fall of 2010 with a historical marker from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, was located in North Wayne on what we know today as Willow Avenue. Among the largest open-air, in-ground swimming pools in the United States, and some still argue the world, this Victorian folly existed between 1895 and 1903. It was 500 feet by 100 feet and played host to national swim meets during its existence. And in the winter, when this fresh water pool froze over? There was ice-skating and winter carnivals held under colorful lights.

The area in which the Wayne Natatorium sits is in North Wayne, but outside the boundaries of the historic district. The historic district in North Wayne only extends so far, and doesn’t encompass a lot of the more modest streets with working class roots that abut the Wayne train station, and I think that is a mistake. For example, if it hadn’t been for vigilant neighbors who live on some of the streets NOT in the historic district, 236 North Aberdeen Ave. might have been lost a couple of years ago to ill-fitting new development.

What was so special about 236 North Aberdeen Ave.? It was the home of builder Jonathan Lengel. Lengel was a builder who brought a lot of the whimsical architectural visions of such greats as David Knickerbocker Boyd. Lengel was responsible for the construction on some very interesting Radnor landmarks.

North Wayne not only boasts the homes out of the imagination of David Knickerbocker Boyd but also among others, the Price brothers–William and Frank Price, Philadelphia Quakers who were originally protégées of Frank Furness before venturing out on their own starting in 1881…..Radnor residents, take the time to become more active with your local Radnor Historical Society and get to know your local streets. They are delightful and charming, offering a real sense of community. Get out of your cars and walk these streets if you haven’t in a while. You’ll be glad you did.

Yes, I mentioned the Wayne Natatorium. I raised the money, found the non-profit sponsor and got the PA Historical Marker approved years ago in 2010. And guess what? Didn’t live there. I just loved the quirky history. See next link to learn about the Wayne Natatorium.

https://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php%3FmarkerId=1-A-400.html

The Radnor Historical Society has tremendous archives of the area. Here is their website:

Home
https://radnorhistory.org/

There is also the North Wayne Protective Association:

https://www.northwayne.org/default.php

Both organizations continue to do their thing, although I wish they would be less insular and more active.

One house that got torn down just outside the historic district of North Wayne a few years ago was the one built by Jonathan Lengel for his own family on N. Aberdeen. I had helped stop the demolition a bunch of years ago, but Radnor Township didn’t give a damn a few years ago and down it came. I wrote about it:

it’s just ugly in north wayne.

Here is the 1985 application from when North Wayne formed a historic district:

NW HDDownload

Also see:

https://delcohpn.wixsite.com/dchpn/national-register-sites-3

Here are some photos I took of North Wayne from around 2007:

Oh and what else did I do back in the day for North Wayne? Well I got stormwater improvements out of Septa and some safety issues addressed with a giant drainage pipe that frequently flooded out parts of Pennsylvania Avenue.

How did I do that? The lead engineer for Septa at the time was a super nice man named Jeff Knueppel. (Yes, the one guy in recent past who was eventually the general manager of Septa before the wheels fell off and people like former politician or perennial politician Leslie Richards came to be there.) Jeff Knueppel was a great General Manager and accessible to the public. But I digress.

Anyway, I had written an editorial for Main Line Media News when Tom Murray was the editor, and Jeff Knueppel read it and contacted me. At the time, Wayne train station and their parking lot was getting a makeover. Jeff Knueppel said the budget had room for added stormwater infrastructure underneath the parking lot, and they did some stuff with the embankment facing Pennsylvania Avenue and put a grate over the giant pipe to keep dogs, cats, and kids out of it (which had been a problem.) Next photo is what this looked like before Septa added the grate cover thing and did improvements.

So this was something I did with my writing and activism because it was the right thing to do.

I used to belong to the Radnor Historical Society because I loved North Wayne so much. (I am thinking of rejoining, actually.)

Anyway…. before Christmas I was over there and I took photos of some of the houses on Poplar Avenue because it is one of my favorite streets back in North Wayne. In an other life, I almost lived in North Wayne, a couple of streets removed from there.

Now I hadn’t posted most of these photos yet because I had not gone through them and was editing a lot of December photos and still am from volunteer non-profit photo taking amounting to a few hundred photos. When I started going through the photos from Wayne, I shared one particular house on my blog’s Facebook page:

The ONLY thing I said of the above house is “this house in North Wayne could be fabulous….”

Nothing else. It’s one of my favorites and is one that I have watched for YEARS. For years it has gone through phases where it was tidier and repairs were happening but over the past couple of years in particular it has devolved into this. Here are photos going back to 2007 where you could see the house, 2012 when there was gardening going on, and 2017 when it started to slide into the condition you see today in 2025. These photos incidentally are from Google:

This house was fabulous and could be again if the decay is stopped. It was built around 1905-1906 by Jonathan Lengel whom I mentioned earlier in this post. Here is a screen shot from Radnor Historical Society of Poplar:

Radnor Historical Society see https://radnorhistory.org/archive/photos/?p=6931

So yeah…I posted about this house because it is one of the quirky houses of Wayne I think are so cool. But of course the moral judgement squad of a lack of reading comprehension on Facebook jumped on my back:

So yeah, I love the judgmental who can’t read. Literally ALL I said was the house could be fabulous. The Judgey Judgersons came from West Goshen, Downingtown, Malvern, and I don’t know where else…but none from near this house in North Wayne. As a matter of fact a woman who grew up across from there left a comment saying the house was once fabulous.

All of these people completely missed what the post was about and decided I was targeting whomever lives there. I mean HUH? I was talking about the house, no clue who lives there or what is going on. All I said is the house could be fabulous.

But if we are going to talk about the deterioration, it is happening. Like I said, I have been watching this house from the early 2000s. For a while it looked like repairs were happening, and gardening was happening so it was a shock when I went down this block this holiday season and saw it. This is a neighborhood of old house proud and other houses disappeared for McMansions literally have appeared across the street and down.

I was not doing anything other that taking photos on a public street. I wasn’t peering in windows although with this down on her luck North Wayne house the windows aren’t clear on the second floor. I saw it when I was taking photos and chose not to take that photo. But if the inside indeed resembles the outside then whomever knows the owner maybe should help them?

I am sick of people who lack basic reading comprehension and interpolate whatever is on their mind, not mine, as my actual thoughts or reason for writing about something. This happens with almost everything and it’s old. I am not going to stop writing and people did this when I started writing about Loch Aerie before she was restored, and even more recently the Joseph Price House in Exton.

Get. Over. Yourselves.

No one has to read what I write, and no one has to comment on my blog’s Facebook page or here. And if you don’t even know what it is you are bitching about, it’s even more pathetic.

I am talking old houses here, in an area I find immensely special in spite of the crazy municipality it is in. And Jonathan Lengel? The guy who built the house I spoke of having the ability to be fabulous? In the area he was also responsible for The Saturday Club, Waldheim mansion – (VFMA’s Sullivan Hall, torn down in 2001), Walmarthon estate (Now still there minus historic log cabin), and Waynewood Hotel – (Still standing AKA Wayne Hotel.)

Check out the history in North Wayne and better yet check out the Radnor Historical Society at Finley House. The Finley House is open Tuesdays and Saturdays from 2-4 p.m.
113 West Beechtree Lane, Wayne PA. They also have amazing photo archives. (https://radnorhistory.org/archive/photos/)

I take photos. A majority involves old and often historic houses.

Ciao haters. Go look at some cool old houses and enrich your sense of why they are important.

hey villanova officials have you actually been to mt. pleasant?

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Yeah….so Villanova held a meeting with neighbors over at Cabrini. I actually am glad they did it, except listen to a snippet of the presentation and I have to ask if this Villanova official has ever visited Villa Blue Tarp in Mount Pleasant?

This neighborhood is mostly Chester County/Tredyffrin, but a part of it is also Upper Merion/Montgomery County. The Tredyfrin part of it has some seriously ridiculous off campus party pits. Forget about are the houses safe for the students to live in, will the neighbors ever have peace? The lady speaking at Cabrini I’m sure has the best of intentions, but she has zero clue or doesn’t want to have a clue of what actually goes on in off campus party pits in Mount Pleasant, which is close Cabrini.

Neighbors also reported the following who were at the meeting:

FYI Traffic is going to be awful when Villanova opens the Cabrini campus next year!!!

Villanova says they have purchased six large buses. Shuttle service will leave Cabrini campus every 5-10 minutes 6:30 AM to 10:30 PM.

400 on campus student vehicles. 600 staff and commuter vehicles. Who knows how many Ubers and Doordash type vehicles, right?

That’s a lot, isn’t it?

They are permitted on campus at any time. The King of Prussia and Eagle Road entrances will close at 10:30 PM and reopen at 6:30 AM.

All traffic during this time will enter and exit on Upper Gulph.

I am very glad I don’t live near there. And with Villanova going to Cabrini and Valley Forge Military failing, and who knows what’s happening to that land, how will Radnor and Tredyffrin be protecting their residents through this?

I am glad that Cabrini is not going to be a giant parcel for residential McMansion development, but all the same, Villanova doesn’t have a good track record with their off-campus students, so what’s it going to be like over there?

Also to be considered is the practicality of the traffic implications on a lot of these roads, which are overtaxed and overburdened already.

Buckle up residents, you can hope this will all go smoothly, but I predict a lot of bumps in the road.

And speaking of Villanova, what are they doing with their main campus area property (or properties?) that back up to Aldwyn Lane? And doesn’t the university own properties on Aldwyn Lane? Is Radnor protecting their residents over there or ignoring them?

This is going to be interesting for sure, right? It’s their own version of Happy Valley without the great ice cream right?

another institutional property people should pay attention to: sleighton

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A year ago today, my friend Jamie shared the following post:

ABANDONED PROPERTY ADVENTURE: We explored the abandoned Sleighton Farm School, which was a reformatory school for girls in Glen Mills.

Originally the Philadelphia House of Refuge, founded in 1826–kind of a reform school. Children at the school, which was first coeducational, had lessons and worked the farm. Eventually this became a girls school.

The school has been closed since 2001 and the buildings are in disrepair. Many of these are old dorms, which they called “cottages”—a misnomer, because many of these buildings are large.

The cottages were designed by Cope and Stewardson (1885-1812), a Philadelphia architectural firm that created many major additions to college campuses, including the Quad at Penn and many buildings at Bryn Mawr College. (Oakwell connection: They were buddies with architect Frank Miles Day, architect of Oakwell structures, and collaborated with him when he designed the Penn Museum).

There is a chapel which was built in the 1960s. A few months ago, one of the cottages burned down in an arson.

Eventually, this property will be demolished. Its fate is up in the air. I fervently hope it doesn’t become something like “The Estates at Sleighton Farm School by [XYZ developer].”

So in a sense this is like a sister school to that horrible Glen Mills School. And I feel almost compelled to go down the rabbit hole of this Sleighton Farm School after looking at a couple of other oddly related things…..

WHYY: Clock Tower Schools will reopen Glen Mills with additional oversight, says DHS By Kenny Cooper
Aubri Juhasz
January 27, 2023

The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services has reached a settlement agreement with the Clock Tower Schools, clearing the way for the entity to operate at the site of the former Glen Mills Schools….DHS has granted the Clock Tower Schools a provisional two-year license to operate its residential and day treatment programs. The state is also mandating the Clock Tower Schools pay for an independent monitor, Justice By Design.

https://www.fox29.com/news/3-teens-escape-delaware-county-reform-school-stealing-staff-members-car-fleeing-d-c

https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/crime/juveniles-escape-youth-facility-commit-robbery-and-shooting-before-high-speed-pursuit/65-90819c57-54be-44ef-ac79-af56f8642429

Yes, I did a little segue here to the old Glenn Mills school now known as something like Clock Tower. But back to Sleighton. And another interesting segue.

Sleighton has a weird connection because of architects’ connection to another cool old house I recently discovered because of the people restoring it putting it on Instagram. It’s called (or was called) Binderton and it’s in Chestnut Hill.

Binderton was built between 1903 and 1906 by Cope & Stewardson Architects. Like Sleighton School. Now I know this is a total tangent, but this house in Chestnut Hill is so cool. It also posts gardens that were designed by the Olmsted Brothers, which in turn ties it also to Stoneleigh and Oakwell. Cool, right?

Anyway, enough of my segues- if you want to follow the restoration of the cool Chestnut Hill house follow this link: https://www.instagram.com/nicole.likescake

So yes …..Sleighton….in 2021 the place was being discussed in conjunction with a plan for like 193 townhouses. And remember the property is part Edgemont, part Middletown.

https://delco.today/2021/10/193-townhouses-proposed-for-former-sleighton-school-property/

Supposedly part of the property will be or is now a park?

I did find a website devoted to Sleighton which indicated that they thought demolition was nigh in 2024:

https://www.sleightonfarmschool.com/

Recently an article about a novelist taking inspiration for her book from Glen Mills/Clock Tower and Sleighton seems to lead me to believe they haven’t started anything much at Sleighton yet?

“The Silenced” Takes Inspiration From Delaware County Reform Schools

https://delco.today/2025/09/the-silenced-novel-glen-mills-school/

Now this property seems to be originally about 300 acres? The Sleighton Farm property was originally given to Henry Sleighton by William Penn. So it was also a Penn Land Grant? Newspaper archives have tons of articles about Sleighton ranging from problems, fights, fairs, and astounding amounts of money they got from the county and state.

It’s kind of crazy how much money these institutions used to get right? On July 15, 1957, the Delaware County Daily Times reported that Sleighton was getting $765,000 and Glen Mills School got $770,000! Think of what that would equate to in today’s dollars, right?

In 1970 from the same paper in 1970 I found a notice of an auction of “surplus goods.”

They had fairs, plants sales, and more. In 1974 they had the now deceased Judge Lisa Richette as a speaker and advertised for a farmer.

Like a decade or so ago there was a website post about a “school fixer upper.”

https://circaoldhouses.com/fixer-upper-sleighton-school/

Also found:

What’s in store for Sleighton Farm Property?

And this:

https://savesleighton.com/

Then I found this from 2023 on Middletown Delco’s website:

Now back to 2024:

ICYMI: Multi-alarm incendiary fire at former Sleighton Farm School runs well into the night

A multi alarm fire at Sleighton according to the Delco Times in June, 2024:

An incendiary fire at the long abandoned Sleighton Farm School for Girls in the 400 block of Valley Road in Middletown and Edgmont townships kept county firefighters busy Sunday night into early Monday…Edgmont Township Fire Marshal Al Mancill said the first call came in at 10:14 p.m. from a neighbor on Forrest Lane who saw flames. Firefighters arrived and found a 100-year-old abandoned dorm on fire and called for additional assistance.

It eventually went to two or more alarms, he said….Nobody was injured in the blaze, which took 90 minutes to control….

There have been numerous large fires over the years at the property, which has been closed for over 20 years.

Elwyn, which now owns the property, has a security patrol, with those members and state police patrolling the property and often making arrests, Mancill said.

There is a proposed development but it is held up by a lawsuit involving Edgmont and Middletown townships.

Ok that is interesting right? And there were other articles from another fire on the Sleighton property in 2102 which said it was possibly due to a lightening strike…as in a storm.

Sleighton School burns

https://patch.com/pennsylvania/media/fire-ignites-at-vacant-sleighton-school

Here’s the March, 2023 article about litigation over development at Sleighton:

Middletown Twp. disputes notice of development at former Sleighton Farm School approved

According to the Delco Times on March 20, 2023:

A public notice posted in Monday’s Daily Times has drawn a rebuttal from Middletown Township.

Middletown Township is disputing a public notice Elwyn of Pennsylvania and Delaware and Rocky Run Development LLC published saying that a tentative plan for a proposed planned residential development submitted to the township in September 2021 has been deemed approved…..

Back to June 2024. Pennsylvania State Police Investigators deemed the fire arson after an investigation. At that time anyone who knew anything was asked to contact Pennsylvania State Police Master Trooper John Stewart at 610-558-7085.

https://patch.com/pennsylvania/media/arson-probe-underway-after-fire-abandoned-delco-farm-school

Then I found this:

https://abandonedonline.net/location/sleighton-farm-school/

The Abandoned Online post has interesting history on the place. So however many acres are left is owned by Elwyn and they say that was a result of Elwyn merging with Sleighton:

The Sleighton Farm School began as the House of Refuge in Philadelphia in 1826. 1 4 It was founded by the Quakers, with assistance from the Pennsylvania Prison Society, on the basis that juvenile offenders should be treated differently than adults…Male offenders were moved to Glen Mills in Delaware County to the newly formed Glen Mills School in 1889, while the female offenders remained at the House of Refuge. 1

The House of Refuge sought land in the rural Delaware County countryside in 1906 in a shift of curriculum. 1 14 The reformatory school found the belief that students would be better served in a setting that emulated a large family, where the therapeutic power of growing things on a working farm would be better than keeping them in the inner-city hardscape……On April 17, 1931, the school split into two, one for boys and one for girls. The boys’ school kept the Glen Mills name while the girls’ school became known as the Sleighton Farm School for Girls. 1 4 12 By 1949, Sleighton had grown to 350 acres, housing 350 to 360 females. 4…..In 1993, the Pennsylvania Agricultural Land Preservation Board purchased the easement to 120 acres owned by Sleighton for $1.62 million. 5 The easement purchase program, introduced in 1989, was designed to protect prime farmland from being developed by selling development rights to the state.

Sleighton merged with Elwyn in February 1998.

And there’s a lot more in that post so people should read it. It’s very interesting. But it’s very convoluted and confusing as to what is actually going on there. The only thing I seem to be able to find is that there is security on the site and I guess walking trails aren’t really open to the public?

I found something on social media from this year. That includes photos from I guess some kind of a firefighter who was on site for some kind of training exercise.

So what happens now? Who knows? Time will tell. As of June 4th unless I am reading this wrong the Justia site says “AND NOW, this 4th day of June, 2025,Elwyn of Pennsylvania and Delaware d/b/a Elwyn and Rocky Run Development, LLC’s appeal is quashed.”

https://law.justia.com/cases/pennsylvania/commonwealth-court/2025/797-c-d-2024.html

So it seems there is an actual park area that is public, and where the buildings are rotting is private? But I am not sure? I am not going there, but it is an urban explorer favorite apparently, and again, who knows what happens now?

https://law.justia.com/cases/pennsylvania/commonwealth-court/2025/797-c-d-2024.html

2025-797-c-d-2024Download
The guy uploaded it crookedly

villanova university was “swatted”, now what?

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And the headlines are pouring in. It’s official: Villanova University was “swatted.”

What does that mean? That means false reports were called in causing all of this activity. As per NBC 10 and 6 ABC the two channels I was watching, the call came into the 911 Call Center in Delaware County.

But what I am learning from people who live in close enough proximity to Villanova that they should’ve been the alerted the same time as the on campus population , yet they say that was not necessarily so?

I have spoken to some neighbors down there and I was told basically they found out after everyone else and they’re not happy. It’s not easy being a neighbor of that school. I don’t know how much of a delay there was, or if it’s more a misperception than fact, but it needs to be addressed publicly and rather soon.

Villanova has a security model where they have their own police force and there was quite the contretemps over that. I think it was about 2016. Police Superintendent at that point was Bill Colarulo and he didn’t think it was a good idea. And residents definitely weren’t happy.

I have linked three articles below.

Radnor residents, township officials discuss Villanova University’s plans to have armed police on campus
Panel discusses arming officers at Villanova University
Villanova University students have mixed opinions about armed officers on their campus

So back to today. Someone else told me :

Neighbors are not happy. Did not receive alerts. I heard the news from another friend.

Wonder if Stoneleigh was alerted and the houses on and off County Line Road?

So apparently, when I asked kind of how long it was, I was told:

After the fact and an hour late.

Ouch. Residents and taxpayers of Radnor also asking how much this cost Radnor Township today. I don’t know that they’ll ever get the true numbers but is it safe to say at least $50,000 if not more? I mean it was a massive response from multiple municipalities not just in Delaware County, but all over.

This is not Radnor’s fault this happened. But if it ends up, there was a delay between Villanova University, and any kind of notifications to the public, who obviously are close by, that’s a problem. People have already been concerned over the years of how Villanova has handled sexual assaults and other things, haven’t they? Please, by all means correct me if I’m wrong.

Right now all I have are questions, and so do neighbors closest to the school. Far too many people are being left with an uneasy feeling after this exercise today that wasn’t an exercise, or reality, it was in fact a hoax.

I’m hoping that Radnor, Villanova University, and the district attorney of Delaware County and other agencies will address this so if this is a misperception, it is cleared up immediately.

Now let’s talk about who did this. I think they will find whoever it is. It might take time because the call came into a call center. And once you sift through that information, law-enforcement will next have to go to phone providers and that requires paperwork and fees and like a subpoena or something. You see telecommunications companies tell you they cooperate with law-enforcement, but basically they cooperate for a price. I actually know this personally.

People think those calls are anonymous, but actually they aren’t. And people do get caught and charged. And when they get caught here, it won’t be some minor in fraction, I think something like this probably rises to the category of terroristic threats, or something.

I don’t know what the motivation would be for someone to do this other than to freak out and immediate community, a university campus, and tons of parents dropping their kids off for their first year of college. It’s not funny.

I think the police did an amazing job. I think Villanova got to stress test their plans, and that’s a hard situation. You have people getting these alerts on campus they’re outside for a mass for the beginning of school and then all of a sudden people are running and chairs are getting knocked over. People could’ve gotten hurt any single way you slice this.

And when I think of the people, I know personally, who did not find out at first who had kids stuck in businesses up close to campus on Route 30, and people who are just trying to come home and people who were home, wondering if they were safe is simply not acceptable.

Governor Josh Shapiro stated that this act of swatting Villanova University on move in day was a cruel hoax, and he reminded everyone that this is actually an illegal act. He has instructed the Pennsylvania State Police to help in whatever way they can to find whoever it is who did this. he and other today also reported that what happened today regardless of whether it was real or a hoax was every parent’s nightmare.

If there’s anyone out there who knows who might have done this, they really need to go to law-enforcement. And I can’t help but wonder if every parent who dropped a kid off at that school today is not having a second thought or two, along with every parent everywhere that’s doing the same thing right now.

seeking spare keys trespassing guy?

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I am sharing this because I just got a call from a local farmer in Willistown who called the police about this guy who showed up while he was doing something and his farm hands had to deal with this guy.

Unfortunately, by the time the farmer knew this guy had been there, he was gone, but a police report was filed.

Apparently this guy showed up on some kind of a scooter or hoverboard thing to them. But the reality is he came uninvited down a driveway that is really long. A place that can’t be any more clear about having security and posted private property don’t trespass.

And when the guy was discovered, he was nosing around the cows on the farm.

He didn’t seem to get the concept of private property, which couldn’t be posted any clearer at the beginning of the really long driveway. This guy has also shown up at other people’s s properties in Willistown and several other municipalities in Delaware and Chester Counties.

And he got caught on ring camera in a video posted yesterday to NextDoor. I’m about to show where he’s not only knocked on the door. He seemed to be checking for spare keys.

Now this is a common enough occurrence in the summer months, these random people who just show up. Either they’re selling something or you just find them wandering around your property. We had it in my neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods with the random driveway resealing guy who ignores no trespassing signs and every year acts like you didn’t tell him the year before to get off your property.

But this guy seems to be off from the way people describe him and also seems to be looking for spare keys. So that somebody who’s trying to figure out when people are on and off of their own properties and in and out of their houses. opportunistic? Definitely and for what reason? I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to find out.

People are calling the police about this individual, which is not wrong, what he’s doing is wrong.

worth noting: trying to find traffic solutions in bryn mawr and haverford in haverford township.

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Before I moved to Chester County many years ago now, I lived in Lower Merion Township. I was in the Haverford neighborhood sandwiched between Montgomery and Lancaster Avenues near the Haverford School, which was across Lancaster Avenue as a matter of fact, it had a nickname called “the island.”

This wasn’t the north side (as in other side of Montgomery Avenue or the Merion Cricket Club side) of Haverford neighborhood I grew up in that had then, and still has today insanely soaring real estate prices. This was just a pretty transitional neighborhood close to the Haverford train station, where you could easily walk to both Ardmore and Bryn Mawr.

The neighborhoods across Lancaster Ave from me were actually in Haverford Township. That used to confuse people to think Haverford Township came to there, but it did and it still does. It’s a county and municipal line, and five points in Bryn Mawr is also two counties, but three municipalities.

One of the best things about my then neighborhood was you could walk a relatively short distance to get access to the Haverford Nature Trail. It was awesome. I used to walk myself and my dogs over there once, if not twice a day. When I first moved into the neighborhood, you had to move quickly but you could safely cross Lancaster Avenue via North Buck Lane (Lower Merion) on my side and Buck Lane (Haverford) on the other side. By 2007, it really wasn’t safe to do that. Traffic was bad but unwanted development was starting to march through, which would ultimately increase traffic in my opinion.

Rugby Road: Another Main Line neighborhood at risk

In 2007, we watched as lovely houses were torn down for McMansion-ish dwellings on Rugby Road in the Haverford Township side of Bryn Mawr. It was when many of us started talking about the need for the Municipalities Planning Code of the Commonwealth of PA (MPC) to be comprehensively overhauled to help protect suburbs and exurbs.

Rugby Road plan clears another hurdle in Haverford
Our neighborhood doesn’t need to be developed
Neighbors ‘furious’ about proposed development

The day after Christmas in 2008, or Boxing Day, my neighborhood watched as a developer tore down houses, including one of which was technically historical. It was initially for a condo building. Eventually it became “carriage homes” / townhouses. I will note that even today, the structures don’t truly fit into the neighborhood and in my opinion still complement nothing much. Oh, and they still overlook Classic Auto Body. I still can’t imagine paying Main Line prices to overlook a couple of body shops as there is still one I think across Lancaster Avenue from Classic Auto Body.

Haverford neighbors fear a demolition for Christmas

In 2007, the then editor of Main Line Media News who before his death was editor of The Daily Local penned an editorial that still resonates today about development:

Moratorium on development needed on the Main Line

Neighbors of these developments came together, organized, and attended so many meetings during the early to mid 2000s. In some ways it helped, but in other ways it was soul crushing to see development that had little to do with the area itself taking over and not necessarily being harmonious with the neighborhood invaded. In late 2007, I wrote an editorial for Main Line Media News celebrating these neighbors groups:

It was the year of the neighborhood group

In case you missed it, this is why I get upset about a lot of the truly wanton development in Chester County. I lived it, in part, before. This is in part why I know in my heart Malvern Borough has made a mistake with that absurdly named Duffryn Mawr across King from the Flying Pig.

But I digress.

Why am I revisiting this? Because in my opinion, traffic issues we saw before the development projects I have mentioned in Bryn Mawr and Haverford even happened, have now morphed into a need for Haverford Township to rethink the configuration of what will always be small streets to protect the community and pedestrians.

I don’t pay close attention to Main Line and just off of the Main Line stuff like I used to, but this newsletter from 5th Ward Commissioner of Haverford Township Laura Cavendish:

https://mailchi.mp/havtwp/july122025?e=f434c78b67

Allow me to share the excerpt that caught my eye:

July 13, 2025

Dear Neighbors,

The Board of Commissioners will hold its monthly public meeting on Monday, July 14. In the meantime, I wanted to share a few updates and reminders from around the Township.

Safe Streets Demonstration Project on Buck Lane

Within the next few weeks, Haverford Township will begin a Traffic Safety Demonstration Project on the 800 block of Buck Lane (between Railroad Avenue and Panmure Road), as part of the Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) program. 

Key features include:

  • Converting Buck Lane to one-way northbound travel (Railroad to Panmure) to reduce southbound cut-through traffic and improve pedestrian and bike safety.
  • Reconfiguring the roadway for one lane of traffic, a buffer, and a protected multi-use path for pedestrians and cyclists.
  • Temporarily eliminating on-street parking on the block during the project.

During peak times, 65–75 vehicles per hour will be rerouted, but traffic studies suggest minimal impact on surrounding roads. The Township is coordinating with local schools to adjust transportation routes.

A community feedback survey will be shared about three months after the project begins. You can find the Brynford Safe Streets Study here. For questions about this demonstration project, contact Jaime Jilozian at jjilozian@havtwp.org or 610-446-1000.

Here is the link to what she referred to on Haverford Township’s website:

Click to access FINAL_Brynford_Bicycle_and_Pedestrian_Safety_Study_91423.pdf

It’s so weird to think that part of Buck Lane will be one way, but I applaud Haverford Township for seeking solutions. When we tried to get traffic calming in our Lower Merion neighborhood back in the late 90s to early 2000s before the development projects I have discussed here were begun, we only got so far and we got a municipal smack back.

The impetus was a hit and run of a neighborhood dog back then, and subsequent realization of how many little kids we had as well as pedestrians. We pushed for a traffic study and I believe that my then small street had a crazy number of something like over 1200 vehicle trips per day clocked.

Our neighborhood back then was a big cut through between Lancaster and Montgomery Avenues, and probably still is. We had neighborhood meetings called parlor meetings with township officials including the police in our living rooms. I remember this well, because I hosted the first meeting at that time in my own living room.

We looked at surrounding areas, and were particularly interested in something Radnor Township was doing back then: speed humps. As opposed to speed bumps. This was before 2006, but I don’t remember the exact date. It was before the current 10th Ward Lower Merion Commissioner in Lower Merion was elected. (He’s still there)

I remember speaking with traffic safety folks in Radnor to get speed hump information. They even gave me PennDOT information at that time.

But Lower Merion was having none of it. It got to the point where the Lower Merion Commissioners then introduced an ordinance to prohibit speed humps. They seemingly erased all evidence of this today because more recently they have selectively introduced speed humps in the township since that time. But I personally know that this happened as during the course of this all those years ago, I received a letter in the mail basically warning me off from asking for speed humps in my then neighborhood.

So because of all of this, I am glad Haverford Township is trying new traffic calming measures. But, this remains a cautionary tale in my opinion, of what happens when too much development comes to an area over time.

Take a look at what Haverford Township is trying to do here and I welcome comments from neighbors in the area if they read this post to learn their thoughts.

is there a disconnect between pa’s reporting systems and pa school districts?

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The news out of Central Bucks School District is undeniably explosive.

NBC 10: PENNSYLVANIA
Teacher, aide accused of abusing students with special needs at Pa. school By Deanna Durante and David Chang

There is no way around how ugly this is. No way at all. Now, of course, those of us familiar with Lower Merion School District know that the Central Bucks Superintendent is Dr. Steven Yanni. Yanni was Superintendent in Lower Merion for a few months, never moved into the district and then was gone back to Bucks County (where he lived, so you know that was a heck of a commute to the Main Line every day.)

A related aside was an excellent article in the student newspaper for Lower Merion High School about the revolving door of superintendents in Lower Merion School District. https://themerionite.org/7089/features/lmsds-revolving-door-at-the-superintendent-position/

It was always my opinion that Yanni used getting the job in Lower Merion to get him back where he wanted to be, which was Buck County and of course now he’s on leave because of all of this so maybe that wasn’t the best decision?

Philadelphia Inquirer: Central Bucks’ superintendent is on leave after report found abuse of special education students by Maddie Hanna
Updated April 24, 2025, 10:08 p.m. ET

Now, although not a fan of Yanni, I am less of a fan of the insanity that goes on in a lot of these Bucks County school districts, especially this one. Let us not forget things like Clarice Schillinger, founder of the Keeping Kids in School PAC, who recruited nearly 100 parents to run for school boards across Pennsylvania over masking/anti-vaxxing etc who also made national news as the Bucks County party mom who was accused of slugging a kid?

A 17th Birthday Party, a Stocked Bar, Beer Pong, and a “Parental Rights” Mom Facing Assault Charges

Bucks County is a total circus with their school districts, especially Central Bucks.

But what came out in this recent thing and this report that was filed that was so explosive to me demonstrates that there’s like this breakdown between school districts, the state including things like “Child Line”, and police departments.

It reminded me of something that happened in Chester County and that was the death of that poor girl, Malinda Hoagland. That made national news as well.

AP News: State, local officials failed 12-year-old Pennsylvania girl who died after abuse, lawsuits say

So these two cases this new one in Bucks County and this one from last year in Chester County, to me clearly illustrates that all these agencies that are supposed to be working together for the benefit of children are in fact not.

Let’s start with Child Line which has been a subject of scrutiny in the past. In 2023 there was a report put out about their registry by the University of Pennsylvania Law School and Temple Law School:

Advocating Abolition of PA ChildLine Registry August 22, 2023

In 2022 Community Legal Services filed a law suit: https://clsphila.org/criminal-records/childline-lawsuit/

Child Abuse Cases in Pennsylvania: The Real Face Behind the Mask of the Child Protective Services Law

Now I think because of the problems experienced because of Child Line not l functioning properly, or perhaps functioning unfairly as these articles indicate, it also means that school districts are perhaps reluctant to go to the state and file with Child Line?

I know from what parents told me I guess it was a couple or a few years ago when there were issues at some local daycare places. Parents told me about their experiences calling Child Line among other things they basically felt like when they called in something they weren’t heard or taken seriously. Others have said to me it’s like calling any other thing in Harrisburg that’s supposed to help residents, it’s just a study in frustration.

Of course the greatest irony is because the federal government is monkey around so much with education and actually most probably wants to try to get rid of the Department of Education, these resources are needed more than ever.

https://www.wesa.fm/politics-government/2025-04-14/pennsylvania-child-advocate-abuse-investigations-childline

https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/former-glen-mills-schools-students-claim-in-new-lawsuits-they-were-sexually-physically-abused-by-staff/

From 2016:

ON THE BEAT, POSTS, PUBLIC SAFETY
Advocates say PA’s child abuse hotline has had major problems since 2010, so why did the state wait so long to investigate?

Alexandra Kanik
May 26, 2016

I think there’s a lot of blame to go around. And then you look at the hierarchy and what not within each school district. Often teachers are afraid to step forward. They have to deal with their peers. They have to deal with their teachers union. They have to deal with the administration. It is my opinion that that’s why you didn’t see very much happen that should’ve happened with the whole scandal within the Great Valley School District of making hyper sexualized and horrible fake social media profiles of teachers within that district. That made the news and then it fizzled out and disappeared.

https://www.phillyvoice.com/great-valley-middle-school-tiktok-malvern-chester-county/

https://whyy.org/articles/chester-county-middle-schoolers-fake-tiktok-accounts-impersonating-teachers/

That issue shouldn’t have disappeared like that, but you know in order for law-enforcement to do anything teachers have to step forward and allow their names to be used, don’t they? The school district certainly didn’t want this blown up anymore in Great Valley. They wanted it to disappear.

And then there is the crap that all of the school districts have had to deal with since Covid. First there was masking an anti-vaxxing. Now it’s back to book banning. The latest was Radnor School District. And there we all saw a familiar face from the Great Valley School District book banning debacle that included litigation that cost the district and taxpayers quite a bit of coin, and the litigation went nowhere.

what do radnor school district and great valley school district now have in common??

I’m pleased to report that Radnor school district is UN-banning the books it banned and I’ve posted the link to the meeting so you can hear how the parents, residents, and former attendees of various Radnor schools felt. You have to surf a little bit into the video, but it’s well worth listening to these people.

The school districts in Pennsylvania seem to deal with a continual circus. I think that’s fair to say. That makes it harder for them to do their jobs.

I also think that is fair to say I think there was an enormous breakdown in the Central Bucks School District, circling back to what I opened this post with, but they’re not the only district that suffers from these things. Now I think Superintendent Yanni will be the scapegoat here and the fall guy, especially because the Republicans in that area didn’t want him here in the first place, did they? But he’s not the only one that can take a lap or two for how that whole horrible scenario all happened at Jamison Elementary.

https://patch.com/pennsylvania/doylestown/central-bucks-board-member-calls-superintendent-resign

https://www.buckscounty.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=1274

I have to be honest and say that I am not surprised that there are issues in any school district when it comes to special needs kids. There are the teachers and administrators and other personnel who really really care, and then there are the ones who don’t.

I have had many friends over the course of my life who have had kids with varying degrees of special needs in some very familiar school districts who ended up having to take their kids OUT of these public school districts, and in some cases, sue the district to get the kids into better programs elsewhere.

And then there are the parents who want school districts to deal with severe bullying issues, and things of that nature. And there’s a lot of double talk, but not a lot of action. And sometimes the bullying is not from the kids, it’s the adults, yes?

The circus of school districts needs to get back to the best interest of the child. Every time one of these horrible things happens school districts say they’re going to do better. Then the state will say it’s going to do better, and eventually it all goes back to the way it was doesn’t it? Actual change and reform need to happen.

And that includes a need for school districts to have effective mechanisms in place to deal with the parents that think that what they believe personally should be applied across the board to every parent with things like book banning. The dead baby poster toting book banning poster toting parents are taking up a lot of valuable time within our school districts. They seem to think that their rights matter more than everyone else’s. These circus routines distract from more important matters. You know things like child abuse. Or actual education.

And Harrisburg? Well, Harrisburg is its own cesspool, and this is a glaring example of what they need to actually do better as well.

And then all of these school districts and the state have to work better with law enforcement. it has to be a partnership for the betterment of the children, putting the egos and partisan politics aside.

OK, I’m getting off my soapbox now. But I just think there’s actual reform that needs to happen and it’s not just in one exceptionally problematic school district in Bucks County.

Have a good rest of your Fridays everyone.

oh radnor

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Sometimes when I have appointments down on the Main Line, I go back via Radnor Street Road to check on the Wayne Natatorium sign. The reason I do that is I actually do not trust Radnor Township to maintain it even though it’s a state historical marker. And I am the reason it’s there.

But as I was going through today, I noticed that the parking lot that is at the corner of Willow Avenue and Radnor Street Road for Cowan Field was magically FedEx parking.

Funny thing about that lot is it supposed to be permit parking only or if you’re using the park. I can tell you that there was no one in the park when I drove by.

So is FedEx renting parking spaces from Radnor Township? I didn’t see anything like hang tags that would make one think there’s a parking permit involved.

I did have a giggle over this because when I had come through Wayne earlier, I noticed the stealth parking enforcement fairies’ van roaming around so they could hand out tickets. I guess they don’t go all the way over into Little Chicago?

Of course, I also noticed there were plenty of cars parked around Little Chicago in places that aren’t actually legal.

But hey, that’s Radnor Township at its best: inconsistent.

Isn’t this part of Jack Larkin’s ward? He’s still the Ward 1 Commissioner, right?

Anyway, I hope these FedEx trucks have legal permits because otherwise it’s pretty crappy to get chased around by the parking enforcement fairies and there’s a double standard right?

so yeah the current radnor school district book banning aficionado is the same guy from a couple of years ago.

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Courtesy of Savvy Main Line.

So Savvy Main Line blew the lid off of Radnor Township School District and the book banning of it all. The complainant ONCE AGAIN was the SAME guy who tried before, only this time, Radnor’s current unimpressive Superintendent of Schools Ken Batchelor who has obviously forgotten all about the diverse communities he once served, and STILL serves, seems to be capitulating to this dude’s whims?

My opinion on Batchelor is overwhelmingly he needs to go.

What is this man who oops started this again really afraid of? Did Superintendent Ken Batchelor misplace his balls somewhere? Yes, I just did say this because libraries? Libraries are supposed to be a peaceful place. A refuge. A haven. A safe place. I was and still am a bookworm. I loved libraries as kid. It was a place to escape, to visit foreign lands, learn something new, develop your own intellectual curiosity.

A library (again) is supposed to be a safe space.

This same man who has been wreaking havoc in Radnor probably embarrasses his kids, but are they allowed to have their own opinions? So he can keep his own kids out of the library and away from certain books and I have to wonder if he knows what his own kids get up to on the internet, social media, at the mall, etc.? Probably not.

I think this Radnor secret committee is also BS. I hope more and more people jump on this and give the Radnor librarians and librarian everywhere facing these issues back their libraries. And if these committee members are so proud of what they have done, why don’t they stand up in public?

And for every book that is banned, people need to open little free libraries of banned books everywhere.

If you don’t want your kids to read something, that is your personal choice as a parent, except if you think your kids will just not check something out that you said no to like a simple book, were you ever a kid? For me it was Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret, yet I think some of those novels like Lady Chatterley’s Lover and Tom Jones or Valley of the Dolls were a lot more racy.

To follow is the excellent Savvy reporting and Radnor School District won’t allow embedding of their videos so follow this link for the March 11, 2025 Policy Committee Meeting. I also dug up some old articles from when this guy started the witch hunts and book banning circus before.

Here’s hoping Radnor finds a new superintendent along with reversing this book ban. Parents need to parent in their own homes, not an entire school district. Would that this man who is at it again be so passionate about drugs, alcohol, and bullying. And well this angry dad could put his kids in Catholic school or a Christian school. But no, he wants Radnor taxpayers to pay for his phobias. Radnor taxpayers is that ok with you? It would not be ok with me.

Choice. Look it up, Mr. Phobic. Here’s hoping you allow your kids to have choices.

Screenshot from Houston Public Media.
‘Little Banned Library’ featuring books removed from schools opening in Houston’s Heights neighborhood

Roiled by the removal of ‘unsuitable’ books from Radnor H.S. library, RTSD reviews handling of parent book challenges. Plus, hot headlines and This and That

March 13, 2025 / By Caroline O’Halloran / 3 Comments /

Radnorite: To ban or not to ban: What belongs in Radnor’s classrooms February 8, 2022

Radnor Parents File Police Report Over ‘Gender Queer’ in High School Library
Books with Graphic Sexual Content Draw Radnor Parents’ Ire

Radnor bans three books in response to a parent’s challenge, including ‘Gender Queer’

The district said the removals followed a committee’s review. Some in the community criticized a lack of transparency. by Maddie Hanna Published March 4, 2025, 2:01 p.m. ET

Radnorite: Books Don’t Belong Behind Bars December 14, 2022

Sen. Cappelletti Announces Bill to Stop ‘Book Bans’
Books with Graphic Sexual Content Draw Radnor Parents_ Ire – DV Journal 2021Download
To ban or not to ban_ What belongs in Radnor’s classrooms – RadnoriteDownload
Books Don’t Belong Behind Bars – RadnoriteDownload

radnor township school district is banning books. what’s next? branding students they don’t feel are normal according to klanned karenhood?

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To say I am outraged is an understatement. We’re talking about books that no matter what you think about them aren’t being taught as part of curriculum, they are merely on shelves in a library. People can read them…or not.

Or they were.

So Radnor Township School District I have to ask are you going to brand your students who are different? are they going to be forced to wear special patches on their clothing? Does this remind you of 1930s Germany before World War II? It should this is how it starts.

Oh, and people are going to say I’m being overly dramatic. I am not. I am however, appalled.

It’s hard enough being a teenager without the extra pressure that parents who are uncomfortable with their own identity and sexuality foisted upon other people’s children. at the end of the day that is what this is about. This is about a minority of adult being uncomfortable.

Of course we could ask why are they so uncomfortable but they would be too uncomfortable, providing an honest answer, wouldn’t they?

I’m shocked that this has occurred.

I’m sad that this has occurred.

I’m appalled that this has occurred.

I’m sitting here remembering my high school days when I knew there were people who were struggling with just a simple fact of were they gay or straight. And what I remember from those days is for the most part other kids were accepting in a lot of cases. It was the adults who were not accepting. A lot of the kids who were uncomfortable with anyone else different from them I remember back then often had totally screwed up parents.

Now, as soon as this news broke, I went to some Radnor people I still know and asked them did they know this was happening? And I’m speaking about people with kids in the school district. They are shocked and outraged and flabbergasted, and before this hit the news, apparently all this past weekend there were all these little meetings with school board members scurrying and doing what can be described as damage control. (Note to school board: damage control is undoing this.)

In a district that doesn’t like to talk about issues like any drug/alcohol issues or bullying issues which are perennial everywhere, but they want to ban books.

They don’t want to talk about kids falling behind or talk about the ones who might not be safe at home, but they want to ban books.

This country has a sad flirtation with book banning beginning in 1637 in Quincy, Massachusetts. Censorship remained sporadic well into the late 19th century. Then as the 20th century dawned, book banning went whole hog in this country depending on where you were.

Statistically speaking, 3/4 of the books subject to book banning today are for children, preteens, and teens. But is it the kids who are upset or even reading the books? Seems to me it’s the parents with identity issues of their own they don’t want to deal with?

Because of things like the 1st amendment, the 14th amendment, and the 4th amendment we should have freedom to read in this country. But we don’t because you have these people whipped in a frenzy, vis-à-vis fake news on social media who have warped perspectives on obscenity and morals. Mind you some of the people who all of a sudden are book banners and born again Puritans and super faux Christians were not so innocent way back when and oh the irony, right? I mean, you haven’t lived until you’ve come face-to-face with a hypocritical, former dirty girl masquerading as super mom. Yes, oh the irony.

Radnor School District needs to be taken to court like yesterday over this. Parents need to take the gloves off and stand up and fight for the basic rights which are supposed to be exist in the public school system.

This is pure unmitigated bullshit.

Tell Radnor’s School Superintendent Dr. Kenneth Batchelor to rescind the madness:

Kenneth.Batchelor@rtsd.org

610-688-8100

135 South Wayne Avenue
Wayne PA 19087

School Board emails:

sarah.dunn@rtsd.org

liz.duffy@rtsd.org

andrew.babson@rtsd.org

Clare.girton@rtsd.org

Jannie.lau@rtsd.org

Lon.rosenblum@rtsd.org

lydia.solomon@rtsd.org

susan.stern@rtsd.org

Dj.thornton@rtsd.org

Radnor parents, residents, and concerned citizens should be storming the proverbial Bastille over this. Protests, letters, packing meetings, speaking to media.

People if you’re not going to do it for your own children do it so future generations don’t have to feel like they are living in a prison when they are in school.

👉🏻If I lived in Radnor Township, I would put all of these books in every Little Free Library that sits on someone’s lawn anywhere. I would create Little Free Libraries just for these books.👈🏻

If parents don’t want their children to read certain books, that is up to them within their own household. They should not be able to decide for the rest of the population. And besides, especially when it comes to teenagers, do these parents remember being a teenager? For example when my mother said when I was in 7th grade that I couldn’t read Judy Blume books . So what did I do? I either bought copies and squirreled them away in the house in various hiding spots, or I borrowed them from friends. I read the books, and I lived and wasn’t scarred for life.

The point of education is not to stymie growth. The point of education is to teach and for kids to learn. What is the lesson being taught by Radnor Township School District? Quite frankly it is too ugly to contemplate.

Radnor’s School Board needs to find where they left their balls.

Philadelphia Inquirer: Radnor bans three books in response to a parent’s challenge, including ‘Gender Queer’

by Maddie Hanna
Published March 4, 2025, 2:01 p.m. ET